


We'll Settle This Like Men

by basslined



Category: Metalocalypse
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-03-22
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2018-05-26 01:04:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 4,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6217396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basslined/pseuds/basslined
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short drabbles written to generated prompts. A mix of general stories and S/T.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Camera

_Click!_

_Click, click!_

"Oh, wowee!" _Click!_

_Click, click, click, click, cli-_ "Do yous minds? We ams tryings to figures out de next parts for de recordings."

"Yeah dood, it's gettin' pretty fuckin' annoyin'. Yer drivin' us fuckin' crazy with all that clicking and fuckin'...gigglin' and shit!"

"Sorry, I's just a little estatsticals abouts my cool new camera. Checks it out!" Toki holds it up and snaps another photo. Pickles' mouth is wide open as if he just got goosed, and Skwisgaar is in both mid-blink and mid-speak: a perfect candid in Toki's eyes.

"Gets out of here if you ams goings to just fucks around! We gots real things with whats we gots to deals with!"

"Ahctually, lemme see that, Toki. Hand it over, c'mahn." Pickles motions with his hand for the rhythm guitarist to toss it to him, but instead he carefully places it in his palms as if it were made of pure glass.

"Dere we go. Awright, Skwisgaar. Y'wanna do the honors?"

"Ja, gives to me dat thing there." Pickles obliges, and in the blink of an eye, Skwisgaar gets up from his seat and throws it as far as he can down the hallway.

The horrified expression Toki makes before chasing after his most likely now-broken prized possession makes Skwisgaar smirk and causes Pickles to laugh so hard he actually _snorts._


	2. Mending

There's been an empty space seated right there, deep inside of his chest, ever since his father passed away. There was supposed to be nothing to fear anymore, but the previous fear that his father had always instilled in him had turned into a chaotic, resentful anger with a short fuse. Toki had no real control over it and that also scared him. This was new and it was raw, and Toki didn't like either part of that.

It's when the other members of Dethklok are preoccupied with their own things that Toki thinks about it. Tonight is no different and the construction of his new model plane isn't enough of a distraction.

Getting up from his desk, he carefully arranges his things and shuts off the light before shuffling off down the hallway. He stops in front of one of the many doors down the corridor, placing his head against it, listening intently for any sound behind it. All he hears is the the faint plucking of a few familiar chords and Toki knows it's safe to open it.

His question of "can I comes in?" comes out softer than normal and the vulnerable tone alerts Skwisgaar as to what's probably to come.

"Ja. Shuts dat behinds you." Toki does as he's told and makes to sit next to him on the bed. He talks for a long time, just like he always does, while Skwisgaar absentmindedly plays scales on his guitar. When it's like this, Toki isn't afraid anymore.

Even though Skwisgaar sits there acting like he doesn't care about what Toki's saying, Toki knows that he does, and it's enough. The reassuring grip on his shoulder before he retreats for the night confirms it, and the smile that comes over his own face makes him think that maybe the empty space will eventually mend after all.


	3. Insistence

The answer is always the same, no matter the variation: no. No way. Never in a krillions billions years.

You'd think that by now, Toki would stop asking, but he doesn't. He's persistent and annoying, and it drives Skwisgaar crazy. No matter how many times he snaps at him, no matter how many times he degrades his skills, no matter how many times he sabotages him on stage or rerecords his parts on all of the albums, Toki still comes back and asks for more solos.

The swede just doesn't get it. Why is Toki so insistent? He also doesn't understand why he's just as bad. Is it pride? Or fear? No matter the reason, he'll continue to ignore it and nothing will ever change. They had a dynamic and he wasn't going to shake that up just to appease someone with sloppy playing.

A sigh escapes Skwisgaar's lips as he runs a hand through his hair. He can't stop thinking about it and that's probably what irritates him the most.


	4. Inclusive

The rhythm guitarist had been with Dethklok for almost half a year now. He could count on his fingers the number of times he'd been invited to go out casually with them or to just pal around the house in their downtime.

Tonight was really no different. Pickles, Nathan and Murderface had already left for the evening, probably to a bar. He hadn't any idea where Skwisgaar was. Probably practicing or with more nameless faces. He sighed, focusing his attentions to his desk where a pair of miniature models lay, both half finished.

He had lost track of time before being roused out of his task by the door opening. He was more than surprised to see the blond standing in his doorway, arms crossed. Toki just stared at him, somewhat surprised, definitely confused.

"Whats, ah...dats things you's doings over there?" the Swede inquired,

"Gots dese model planes...been workings on them fors a fews days now. When all yous guys ams out gettings drunk or whatevers."

"Oh, ja...abouts dat, uh...you wants to comes out withs me tonight?" Truth be told, he had felt a little bad about leaving Toki behind all the time. He'd faced the same thing himself when he'd joined all those years ago.

Toki's mouth hung open, awestruck. Had he heard right? Was he actually being included for once?

Skwisgaar simply scoffed, looking away. "Yous goings to catches bees withs your mouth hangings open likes dat."

A sheepish grin replaced the look of shock. "R-really? You means it?"

"Ja. Hurries up befores I changes my mind."

Toki wasted no time in grabbing a sweatshirt from his closet, tossing it over his shoulders in a fluid motion before bounding excitedly over the expanse of the room to the door.

Skwisgaar couldn't help but immediately regret his decision.


	5. Snow

The muted light through the window awoke Toki. Normally, it was so bright in the room that he'd be up as soon as the sun rose, so when he'd happened to glance at the small, white clock against the far wall, he was surprised to see it reading half past two.

He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looking outside to the sight of thick snowflakes falling haphazardly onto the ground. Winter had officially begun, it seemed.

Snow always tended to make Toki a little sad, because when it snowed, he couldn't help but be reminded of Norway. His home only ever brought back sour thoughts; ones of utter silence and a broken child. They were things that Toki tried his hardest to suppress and forget.

Leaning forward, he rested his hands on his knees, letting his hair fall in a curtain around his face. That was the only problem about this room; there were no shades to hide the scenery outdoors.

The body beside him started to stir then, rolling over to find Toki sitting and staring blankly at his lap. Running a hand through blond strands, Skwisgaar sat up beside the younger man, letting a calloused finger absentmindedly trace the rigid scars across his back.

He didn't have to look outside to guess, "dids winters begin?"


	6. Stumble

Skwisgaar has always been good with words. He always said just the right the thing; it was part of his charismatic charm. The ladies never seemed able to get enough of it and it was particularly effective on the press.

Toki, on the other hand...not so much. The brunet almost always stumbled over his words and had a tendency to mix up expressions, which only ever ended in embarrassment.

Eloquence was just another thing that Skwisgaar had the upperhand at and it drove Toki crazy. Just once, he wanted to be able to say something that gave someone genuine shivers; something that would make him look like he had infinite amounts of wisdom. It wasn't fair.

Toki decided that he would do anything he could to get Skwisgaar to falter at least once, just to prove he wasn't perfect after all; to prove that he was just as bad at speaking as Toki was.

"I don'ts gets why I can't dos a solos dis time too!" Toki shouted, "you nevers lets me!"

Skwisgaar snorted. "Dat ams because you amn'ts goods enough for it. Next things yous goings to suggests is dat we starts making Nathans use dat thing whats corrects voices automaticsly, ah?What's dat things called, again?"

Pickles looked up from his magazine. "Iunno, somethin' like autotune or whatever. Shit's annoyin' as fuck."

"I just wants more time to plays! It's not fair dat you gets to dos everyt'ings!"

"Listens, Toki. If you cans manages to not plays so dildos dis next comings show, I thinks about it. You shoulds just forgets abouts it already, I mean, dat amn'ts evers goin-" Skwisgaar was cut off abruptly as Toki crushed their lips together, hard.

The brief stutter of Swedish that left him was more than enough to satisfy Toki as he walked away triumphantly. He hadn't actually cared much about what they were arguing about; he'd just wanted to catch the swede offguard and boy had he succeeded.

Pickles had to bite his tongue so as to not burst out laughing. He didn't know what the fuck had just happened, but he couldn't help but be amused. Grossed out and going to avoid arguing with Toki from now on, but amused nevertheless. "I think he might'a just earned that solo, huh?"

Skwisgaar's cheeks heated up in embarrassment, turning on his heel and stomping out of the room.


	7. Normalcy

"Yanno, all he does is fuckin' pick on ya all the time. I dunno how you can put up with it without sockin' him in the face every once in a while or somethin'." 

"I guess...but den what's abouts you guys? You's always pickings on me too." 

"Er, well, that's dif'rent! Like, that guy's real vicious about it; y'can't ever tell when he's bein' serious or just kiddin'. The rest of us are just doin' it to bust yer balls. It's harmless fun," Pickles replied before taking another bite of his sandwich. 

"I never reallies tooks the time to thinks abouts it too hard. Just puts up withs it and does my own thing likes I usuallies do." Toki shrugged. 

"I just dunno why ya seem t'like him so much. S'like watchin' a fuckin' puppy followin' its owner around half the time. Just, y'know, if the owner was a fuckin' dick all th' time." 

Toki looked a little thoughtful then. It was true that he and the older guitarist had a complicated relationship, but he wouldn't trade their dynamic for the world. It was...fun. In a twisted sort of way.

Skwisgaar was a little rough around the edges, sure, but you just had to look passed the venom to find the sincerity. It was something Toki had learned early on and probably the only reason their bond had become so strong. No one else seemed to understand him like Toki did. At least, that's what he thought. 

"He ams not so bads, Pickle. You just needs to knows how to deals withs him and den he's just likes whats the rests of you all acts like. Just normals." 

Pickles just sighed and muttered a 'whatever y'say,' before walking off, leaving Toki smiling to himself as he went back to his thoughts.


	8. Tie

A frustrated groan escapes Toki's lips as he once again slumps his shoulders in a defeated manner.

No matter how many times he tried, he just couldn't seem to get the hang of tying his tie. It wasn't as if this were the first time he'd ever been required to dress in formal attire, but usually his mother had done it for him. Now that he was a grown man in a metal band, no less, he no longer had that luxury.

"Arounds the collars and den you pulls on whats comes out on this sides, and..." he mumbled, tugging a loop, "you brings dis one outs and arounds...fuckings shits!" No dice.

A rap of knuckles on his door snapped him out of his small fit of childish cursing, making haste to open it to find the tall, blond lead guitarist staring at him with an eyebrow raised. "We only gots twenties minutes until we gots to leaves for de events and yous just lookings likes dem guys whats sits unders a bridge? Pfft...reals classy, Toki."

Toki's brows knitted together, exhaling sharply through his nose in irritation. It made the Swede's lips twitch into a small, accomplished smirk. "I can'ts dos it."

"Dos what exactlies?"

"Puts on dis stupids tie!" He made sure to hold his hands out around the accessory for emphasis as he spoke.

"Honestsly, Toki," he replied, unable to hide the amusement in his tone, "it amn't evens dat hard. How longs you spends tryings dat?"

"Too many times! I gives up; I'll just wears a bows tie or something."

Skwisgaar rolled his eyes at the accompanying pout. "Don't has to bes such a crybabies abouts it, ah? Comes closer overs here, I'll just dos it for yous."

The younger closed the distance, watching intently as Skwisgaar's skilled fingers went about fixing the tie. Each movement was lightning fast and precise, just like his guitar playing. He stepped back and Toki couldn't help but be a little impressed at how perfectly even it was. "Wowee."

"Dat ams a charitiesable things, out of de goodness of my heart. Next times, I ams goings to charge yous."

Toki scrunched up his nose. "I can figures it outs now dat I seen you do it!"

"Ja, okay, because you really pays dat much attentions" he rolled his eyes again, tilting his head back to massage a crick in his neck. "We ams leavings in ten minutes, so hurries up and finish gettings ready." With that, Skwisgaar left down the hallway.

An indignant huff came from Toki as he made to undo the work of art around his collar to prove the blond wrong, only to quickly realize that he hadn't actually taken in how Skwisgaar had done it after all.


	9. Conflict

Skwisgaar hadn't intended it to happen, but he was quite certain that he had fallen for a certain Norwegian guitarist.

The more he thought it about it, the more irritated he was over it. Not at Toki persay, but at himself, because he knew that as much as he wanted to speak up about it, he wouldn't. The words would always get caught deep in his throat and he would force them back from where they came. He'd never had trouble before when it came to things like this, so why now, of all times?

It was because Toki was different, he'd figured. Toki wasn't just some random face; he wasn't someone that Skwisgaar would simply forget about the next day. Toki had become something that was irreplaceable.

He understood Skwisgaar better than anyone else, maybe even moreso than he understood himself sometimes. He was able to talk to the brunet about things that he couldn't trust to confide to anyone else in the band, not even to Charles, which was surprising. Not that Skwisgaar often let anyone peer into the depths of his mind, but it was definitely a lot more frequent with the younger man.

What confused him the most by far was that he couldn't tell if Toki was harboring affections for him in return. Skwisgaar knew that he was, without a doubt, the closest one to him, but Toki had said on many an occassion how much he had felt Dethklok to be like his family. Maybe it was just brotherly love in Toki's eyes? Or perhaps Skwisgaar was trying to see something that wasn't actually there, just to somehow ease the dull ache in his chest every time he thought about him. Whichever it was, it left a bad taste in his mouth, one of cowardice and something he couldn't quite place.

In some sort of retaliation, he had begun taking his frustrations out through his music, playing melancholic and haunting melodies when he'd retreated to his bedroom for the evening. Pained, wailing notes always filled the air, fingers flying expertly over the strings and plucking out agonized chords. It never seemed to ease those hidden feelings for too long.

Little did he know that Toki always sat just outside his door to listen.


	10. Variance

Skwisgaar always liked variety when it came to his nightly activities. Whether the women were older or younger, model perfect or more suited for a bag to go over their head, it didn't matter; he liked all of them.

However, as of late, that variance had gone missing. Now, the same body occupied his bed every night. The same nails dug themselves into his back, the same mouth breathlessly called out his name as they moved together rhythmically, and the same strong arms wrapped lazily around his thin torso as they fell asleep together.

Toki had suddenly become a constant and for some reason, Skwisgaar didn't seem to mind.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-Doomstar Requiem special.

When he opened his eyes, there was nothing but blackness. He didn't know where he was nor how he got there; everything in his mind was static. The last thing he remembered was a large commotion and Magnus keeping him apart from the rest of the band, right before he'd...

Toki sat up suddenly in the small, squeaky cot he was in then, and pain immediately shot through his entire left side, causing him to groan in discomfort and shoot a hand to grip at the source. Retracting it, he just barely saw what he could only assume to be blood by the feel of it, though fresh or otherwise he couldn't be sure, not in the darkness.

"H-hellos? Cans anybody hears me?" he rasped out anxiously, squinting as he tried to make out any other shapes in the room around him. His inquiry fell on silence and he couldn't help but feel panic welling up inside of him.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he gathered all the strength he could muster and pushed himself off the makeshift bed only to discover that he was much weaker than he'd expected. The pain only grew sharper with every slow step he made toward the dim, red light in the corner that appeared to be coming from underneath a door. Before long, an overwhelming amount of dizziness overcame him and everything went black again. He'd passed out well before his head connected with the stone floor.

***

A sharp kick connecting with his side and someone barking an order for him to get up caused Toki to stir, blinking rapidly as he tried to adjust his vision to the sudden blinding light around him. He cried out pitifully when the kicking continued, only to hear another voice, one that he actually recognized.

"What the hell are you doing? Get the fuck out of here. I'm the one who'll be taking care of this." After the stranger had left, Magnus turned to look at Toki, disdain painted all over his face as he looked down at the younger man on the floor. It wasn't the same look that Toki had grown accustomed to and the fear that he'd felt at the eulogy reading returned with a vengeance.

"Please just lets me gos. I'll gives you whatsever you wants, please," he begged as he tried fruitlessly to get up from the cold stone.

Kneeling down, Magnus grabbed Toki roughly by the collar of his shirt, hoisting him up off the floor. He pushed the hair out of the younger's eyes with his free hand before taking a fistful of it and forcing him to look him in the face. "You know I can't do that, Toki. I'm helping you, don't you get it? I'm helping you open your eyes, to see that those four idiots don't care about you at all. All they care about are their own well-beings."

"Thats isn't...buts you's wrong, they-" he began before Magnus tightened his grip in Toki's hair and snapped his head back, successfully shutting him up as intended. Toki squeezed his eyes shut, trying to steady his breath. The throbbing from his wounded side was making itself known again and he assumed it'd reopened once more.

"No, no, look at me! You're my hostage now, both you and that bitch. You think you know what they're like? Don't make me laugh." He let go abruptly and Toki hit the floor again with a hard thud. "They'll be responsible for your deaths. I'm doing this to prove a point, understand? To you, to the girl; both of you will feel the isolation and despair that I have!"

He heard the door slam shut and the room filled with darkness again. What happened to the friend Toki had made? This wasn't the same person at all and in Toki's eyes, he wasn't even a man anymore; he'd become a demon. The doubt and worry that filled his heart as the words Magnus had snarled into his face repeated over and over again in his head made him want to be sick. He just wanted to go home.


	12. Flowers

It hadn't even been a full week since he'd planted them, and already Toki's beautiful roses had died. He thought that he'd done everything he was supposed to in order to keep them lovely and healthy, but the effort seemed to have been in vain. He'd killed yet another thing that he cherished. As a result, he'd taken to doing the fourth best thing he was good at: sulking at the dining room table.

It didn't take too long for the rest of the band to notice that their rhythm guitarist wasn't being annoyingly upbeat. While it was standard practice not to give a damn, it wasn't doing them any good when they needed Toki to finish their latest album (at least, that was how Nathan had decided to justify it and it wasn't like the others would have tried saying otherwise), so they'd decided that they would try to cheer him up.

When they arrived in the dining room, they found Toki with his head in his arms in the exact same spot he'd been for the past five hours, and by this point, it was starting to piss Nathan off. "Toki. Toki, get the fuck up and look at me."

Toki jolted his head up at the sudden gruffness that echoed through the room. He quickly rubbed his eyes, surprised to see all of them standing around him. "What ams you alls doings here?"

"You've been in here all day. We gaht a ton of stuff t'do, yanno! Yer gettin' depressed about stupid stuff, Toki."

"Seriously, they were fucking flowers, okay? Flowers. You could spend your whole fucking life babying those things and they'd still wither away as soon as you turned your head. It's not the end of the fucking world."

"Ja, it amn't evens likes somethingks likes dis has evers happened befores. Dere ams a firsts time for everythingks, huh?" Skwisgaar offered.

...And then there was silence. They all looked at each other and then to Toki. Pickles was the first to break it. "Well, uh...there was that one time, y'know, with that little sick girl or whatever. Toki saw her 'n then she fuckin' kicked the bucket." Toki's face fell at that.

Nathan nodded. "Oh, yeah, yeah- that was fucking crazy. And hey, there was that other time with that old guy, remember that?"

"Toki'sch dad, trapped under a scheet of ische. Like all he did wasch fucking schtare at him, too."

"No, no, I meant at that recital or whatever. Guy fuckin' died right in Toki's arms. Murderface is right though, his dad too. What the fuck is up with that?"

Pickles raised an eyebrow. "It's like this shit just fuckin' follows 'im or somethin'. Should...should we, Iunno, be worried? Like, I'm just sayin'..." And then the brunet slammed his face back down against the tabletop, arms resuming their original position before his company had arrived.

"I agree with Picklesch. It'sch like death juscht followsch thisch guy."

"He just has to fuckin' touch somethin' and then," he made a sound crudely mimicing an explosion, "yer breathin' yer last breath!"

"Yeah, I mean...whatever, this is stupid. Toki, this is stupid. Stop letting your bullshit affect work. Your sulking is pissing everyone off." Nathan paused to look at him, "fuck this, you're not even listening. I'm serious though, they were flowers. Get the fuck over it. ...And don't touch me, okay, I'm too important to die. Touch Murderface or something instead." He made his way out of the room, Pickles snickering in tow.

Murderface followed, yelling after Nathan. "What the fuck isch that! Don't fucking throw me under the busch! I'm juscht as important to thisch band asch you motherfuckersch are!"

Skwisgaar simply let his gaze wander to Toki, who at this point, was trembling ever-so-slightly. He rolled his eyes and patted the younger man's shoulder awkwardly. "Yous can just plants more, eh? Nots such a bigs deal. Don't has to bes such a crybabies abouts it, pfft."

He made his way after the other three, stopping at the doorway and turning around to look at Toki, who had brought his head back up to give the swede a small smile. "Besides, they coulds have mentioneds that cat whats you had and endeds up dyingks too, ja? So it amn'ts so bads. Cheers up, little Tokis." He brought his hand up in a lazy wave as he left the room.

The look on Toki's face was heart-wrenchingly priceless.


End file.
